From Productivity to Play: Ramadan's spirit of togetherness

As a time for togetherness, collaborations and gatherings, Ramadan in the UAE is always a special occasion for citizens and expats to share the joy of the holy month, while staying productive and enjoying quality time with friends and family.

This is why Ramadan reflects a month of vastly different consumer behavior, especially when it comes to the use of laptops, gaming devices and more. It certainly helps that throughout Ramadan there are deals on laptops and other tech devices galore – helping users embrace the benefits of technology at great bargains.

Laptop sales in the UAE during Ramadan are influenced by various factors, but the key drivers are the need for productivity and of course attractive promotions for consumers.

For brands, this is a major opportunity as families can be spread out around various corners of the world, often gathering in front of their computers to enjoy iftar or suhoor together, catching up on the day’s highlights and celebrating their shared traditions – underscoring the role of technology as a great enabler of spiritual, social and human connections during the holy month.

Developing local gaming capabilities

Combined with the post-pandemic experience, this has led to a surge in demand for laptops, as students, employees and families seek to utilise their time more efficiently to work, study or socialise from home. In addition, with many businesses and schools conducting virtual meetings, remote classes and workshops, there has never been a greater need for powerful and dependable laptops that help everyone stay connected during Ramadan.

This greater emphasis on productivity and remote work has also led to an increased demand for laptops with improved battery life, faster processors, and other features that can help users complete their tasks without any compromise.

But it’s not just all work that drives the surging interest in laptops during the holy month – an unmistakable trend of Ramadan is the heightened demand for gaming laptops as people seek to take a break from the hectic pace of life to indulge in the latest games.

Indeed, the region’s youthful and tech-savvy population has taken the gaming industry to new heights, due to which Middle East and North Africa (MENA) enjoys the reputation of being the fastest-growing video games market globally.

Buoyed by the government’s swift grasp of the importance of developing local gaming capabilities and the potential of the sector, the gaming market in the UAE has seen unprecedented growth.

Globally in 2022, gaming revenues hit a new record of more than $200 billion, and video games today are the biggest part of the entertainment industry generating more cash than Hollywood and the music industry combined.

When it comes to engaging such an enthused population around the region during Ramadan, a full squad of powerful gaming laptops is what they need – devices that come equipped with superior cooling technology, Mini LED displays and a full deck of performance-enhancing features and hardware. That’s the reason why gaming laptops are in high demand during the holy month with major retailers and e-commerce sites rolling out attractive deals.

Reinvigorated interest during Ramadan

Retail shopping is another sector in which laptops and devices play a major role in driving reinvigorated interest during Ramadan. Thanks to the unprecedented growth of fast internet networks across the region in the last few years, it comes as no surprise that consumers in the UAE today spend more time than ever before on their devices – and this trend is at its peak during the holy month.

According to the UAE’s Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), 59% of the country’s population shops for their needs online every week and spend on average four hours every day on their personal computers.

Of course, such a trend has a profound impact on spending behaviour as consumers discover more brands and products. During Ramadan, this heightened activity around the laptop also leads to more consumers opting to shop digitally rather than in-person and avoiding crowded malls and shopping centers.

According to RedSeer, consumers in the MENA region on average spend more than $6 billion on online purchases during Ramadan as their digital affinity grows across multiple channels. As a result, e-commerce websites see massive spikes in traffic and sales during this period, and laptops are at the forefront of driving those purchases as well as leading the electronics segment on sales.

Such accelerated online activities during Ramadan are hardly a surprise in the UAE, where robust digital infrastructure, advanced last-mile logistics and increasing consumer adoption of digital technologies has changed the face of both commerce and creativity.

But it’s the spirit of togetherness, the idea of simplifying their lives to focus on things that matter during the holy month – such as staying in touch with their loved ones and family, engaging in acts of kindness, celebrating shared values and finding new spiritual expressions – that ultimately drive people to rely more frequently on their laptops and devices during Ramadan.

Michele Montecchio is General Manager at Acer Middle East